Chapter 2: 2

***

Choi Kangmin looked at his cell phone clock with an anxious look, while standing at the cashier of the convenience store.

– It’s already 9:55am.

“Why aren’t you coming? I have an appointment with a private shark loan at 10am. What if my organs will be sold and be pushed on Han river as a corpse?”

His heart was beating loudly.

Kangmin opened his cell phone contact and tap “recent call.”

-Convenience store owner (8)

There were eight phone calls tried. Kangmin called the boss again.

The boss answered within five beeps.

“Hey, Choi Kangmin. I told you I was on my way!”

“Boss, my shift time was going to end at 8 o’clock. I told you I had an urgent appointment today. If I am late I will be going to die like this!”

“Are you the only one busy? I’m busy too! And I’m dying too!”

“Boss!”

The boss hung up the phone.

“What a jerk!”

Kangmin wanted to leave the convenience store regardless of his part-time job. But he couldn’t. Today is payday and he had to receive the money and give it to the shark loan.

Five minutes later, the boss entered the convenience store with a red face.

“Welcome…”

Kangmin stiffened his face looking at the owner’s face with gray hair.

“Hey, you punk. I told you I was coming! Why are you calling me like that?”

As soon as the boss came, he yelled at Kangmin.

Kangmin was speechless. It was himself who wanted to shout now.

He wanted to grab him by the collar right away, but he didn’t have time. Kangmin had to run.

“Take over quickly.”

Kangmin said and showed the amount in the screen and the cash matches.

The boss didn’t bother looking at it and pointed his finger at the display stand.

“Didn’t you clean up last night? What’s this dust?”

“I cleaned up.”

“Then, what’s this dust?”

Kangmin’s face turned red. The boss was deliberately nitpicking now. He did it on purpose knowing his situation.

“You punk!”

He wanted to quit this place right away, but this convenience store paid the most part-time jobs at night nearby.

Kangmin clenched his fist tightly and replied.

“I’ll wipe more this evening. I’m busy, so please pay me my salary.”

“I can’t believe you’re asking for a salary while working like this. Really… You are really like a beggar.”

The boss ‘tsk’ his tongue and transferred the account with his cell phone as if he didn’t like it.

“Thank you, boss.”

Kangmin took off his apron from the convenience store and left immediately.

As he closed the door, he heard the owner’s voice.

“Why is the part-timer hurrying the boss to come? This is how you grow without parents.”

Kangmin ran, biting his lips until they bleed.

He had to run. The place he had to go now was a scary place and he will be meeting people that was incomparable to the convenience store owner.

* * *

Kangmin opened the office door with “happiness loan” written and entered.

No one was seen in the office except for one female employee. The female employee was chewing gum and filing her nails.

“Hello, I’m here because I have an appointment with the boss.”

The female employee glanced at Kangmin and answered while filing her nails again.

“The boss just left.”

The secretary with thick makeup replied, chewing gum.

“Uh… When did he get away?”

“It’s been about 20 minutes. Want Coffee? Green tea?”

Kangmin shook his head at the employee’s words.

“I’m okay…”

His whole body was exhausted.

“It’s Kangmin, right? Weren’t you supposed to meet with the boss at 10am? The boss left exactly 10:01.”

“I’m sorry. The convenience store owner came late today. I brought interest for this month. What should I do?”

At Kangmin’s words, the secretary spat the gum out to the tissue and put it in the trash can.

“Money? You are late. As you know, what the boss hates the most is breaking his promise. The boss told me to deliver you this.”

The employee spoke loudly, immitating the boss’ way of speaking.

“Bring all the overdue interest so far by 6 p.m. on Monday, all in cash, otherwise you have to leave your house on Monday. That’s what he said.”

Kangmin closed his eyes tightly. Today was Saturday. Even if he sold all his organs, he wouldn’t be able to raise a huge amount of money on Monday.

“Is it up to here?”

As private lenders, they had no blood or tears. Everything they’ve up to him so far has been because of my small relationship with my father.

Kangmin stood up helplessly and left “happiness loan.”

“Goodbye!”

As he closed the door, he heard the voice of the employee who was not impressed.

“Sigh, how can I get 20 million won (~$2 million)?”

After leaving the building. Kangmin began to walk helplessly.

* * *

When he arrived home, it was alread 11:30 a.m. Kangmin looked at his house.

It was a very old hannok full of vines on the fence at the end of Bukhansan Mountain.

“Do I really have to sell this house?”

Kangmin went inside the house helplessly. The yard was visible, and an old Korean-style house with the shape of a rectangle appeared.

There was a large persimmon tree planted in the yard.

Kangmin stroked the persimmon tree. When he was young, he remembered calling his friends to show off this persimmon tree and pick up persimmon fruits together.

“No! I will never sell this house! What kind of house is this? It’s my family’s house since my great-great-grandfather!”

It was a house with memories of himself, his parents, and his grandfather.

“Let’s sell them all. I’ll protect this house even if I sold all the old items in the house.”

Kangmin bit his lips tightly, passed through the yard and entered the master bedroom.

The masters bedroom was not his. It was the room of his late parents.

Kangmin opened an old cabinet in his home room. There was a small old-looking jewelry box.

Kangmin took out the box and opened it. There was a golden ring with a large green diamond.

At first glance, it was not an ordinary object. The gold decoration was very detailed, and the smell was kind of metallish, not like a normal smell.

“If it’s this ring, wouldn’t I get at least 5million won? Even if I combine it with my salary, I can’t even pay the interest, but wouldn’t I be able to get a little time?”

Kangmin recalled a conversation he had with his father, about the ring, when he was young.

“Dad, what’s this ring? It’s very tacky!”

“What do you mean tacky? Kangmin-ah, this is a ring that our family’s founder received from the God.”

“God? You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying. If you wear this ring, you will be healthy and live long life.”

“Hmm… Dad is wearing a wedding ring, right?”

“Kangmin, this is a family treasure. No matter what happens, you have to keep it and hand it over to your descendants later. This is a promise from our ancestors.”

Kangmin, who thought of his father, closed his eyes and opened his eyes and said.

“Father, I’m sorry. I don’t think I can keep that promise. Even if it’s a good gem, it’s not more important than a person’s life, right? I love this house. So I’m going to sell this and pay interest to protect this house full of memories.”

He made such a resolution, but he felt like he was guilty of something big.

Kangmin took out the ring and get a closer look. The green diamond sparkled from the sunlight coming from the outside of the window.

There seems to be a pattern engraved inside the green jewel, but he couldn’t see it well.

“I don’t think there’s any flaw. Please… There should be a place that would buy you for a huge sum.”

He heard from his father that the ring is more than 1,000 years old. He didn’t believe it all, but the thought he could get quite a lot of money even if it was around 500 years.

“Please… I have no other wish if only I could get about 20 million won.”

Kangmin tried the ring on his left index finger. It was a little big, so he put it on his middle finger. It was perfect.

Kangmin grabbed his left hand wearing the ring with a solemn look.

“I’m sorry, ancestors. Your descendants is thinking of selling this ring. But I’ll make sure to get this ring back in the future. Please look forward to it.”

His words were firm, but his inside was a mess. He lamented how this wealthy house came this far.

“If it weren’t for him.”

Everything was because of the “him” who betrayed his father. Because of him, their company went bankrupt and his father died.

Now the house looks like it’s going to fly away.

“Kim Sangchul!”

Kangmin said on the name and bit his lips till it bleed. His lips were torn and a drop of blood fell on the ring.

Then the ring was getting and his whole body was warming up.

“What is it? Did I just turn on the heater?”

When he checked the boiler, it was turned off.

His body got hotter. When he looked at it with a strange feeling, his ring was the cause.

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Surprised Kangmin tried to take off his ring quickly, but strangely, he was weak. Perhaps because he worked part-time at the convenience store all night, he suddenly felt sleepy.

“What’s wrong with this? I can’t…”

The split chapters has around 1,500-1,700 english words, which are the average word count of translated Korean novels.

Korean novels usually have 4k-5k characters.

***

Kangmin collapsed in the bedroom without realizing it and closed his eyes. Soon, Kangmin’s snoring resonated in the whole master bedroom.

It was then that a strange phenomenon took place. The green jewel, where his blood fell, shone brightly. The light that emanated from the jewel came from the entire ring.

The shining ring faded and turned into a green liquid. The green liquid flowed on the back of Kangmin’s left hand and created a unique pattern. It was the same pattern from the green jewel.

The green liquid penetrated into Kangmin’s flesh. After a while, a dark green tattoo was engraved at the back of Kangmin’s hand.

The tattoo gradually changed. It turned from geometric tattoo gradually becoming flame shape. The color turned red too.

Despite the change in his body, Kangmin was still snoring.

The red flame tattoo started shining brightly. The light surrounded Kangmin’s body for a moment and soon disappeared immediately.

<According to the promise, we will guide you to another world.>

A message appeared in front of Kangmin. However, Kangmin didn’t see it because he was still asleep.

As the message disappeared, Kangmin also disappeared on the spot.

<Let’s start moving you to the parallel world… You have completed your journey to the parallel world.>

Kangmin felt like he got a good sleep after a long time.

He felt so comfortable that he didn’t want to get up. His body was light, the sun was warm, but the air was… A bit dry.

“Ah…ah…ah…ah-choo!”

His nose was itchy, so he sneeze. As he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling.

“Why am I sleeping here?”

When he looked around, it was the master bedroom. He quickly remembered why he was here.

“Ring!”

Kangmin quickly looked at his left hand, but contrary to his expectations, the ring was nowhere to be found.

There was tattoo on the back of his hand, but he didn’t took notice of it.

“No!”

What kind of ring was that? It was his last hope to save this house.

Kangmin ramage through the bedroom helplessly and desperate.

Even though the room was being cleaned every day, for some reason, dust still piled up.

He kept coughing, but it didn’t matter. If he couldn’t find the ring, he would eat dust for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the future.

Kangmin took out all the furniture outside, but still failed to find the ring.

“It’s over.”

It was clear that he was robbed while sleeping.

“Argh!”

Kangmin hit the floor with his fist and shouted. His frustrations built up was going to burst. Even after his fist started to bleed, he didn’t stopped hitting the floor.

Then, as if he found hope again, an idea cane to his mind.

“Police! Maybe the thief was filmed on a nearby CCTV!”

He shouldn’t give up like this. The ring was his last hope.

Kangmin opened the gate right outside wearing shoes and went out.

The appearance of the neighborhood appeared in front of his eyes.

“Huh?”

Kangmin, who was about to run to the police station right away, stopped at the sight in front of him.

“What’s going on?”

Obviously, this was the same neighborhood the Kangmin knew and lived.

But it was different. Very different. Strange. Most of the windows were broken and some houses were dilapidated.

It looked like a neighborhood where people were not allowed to enter for months after redevelopment.

There was another strange thing. Even though the sun was up, no one was on sight.

“What’s going on?”

Kangmin left the gate.

There were black things on the alley floor and walls. Iron pipes and broken trees were also rolling around in the alley, all covered with dark red things.

“Did a war occured while I was asleep?”

It doesn’t make sense. No matter how deep he fell asleep, he shouldn’t have slept through this happening.

Something strange happened, but he couldn’t stay like this. He had to find the ring.

Kangmin carefully went down. Then, he stopped when his soles step on something.

Kangmin’s eyes shook as he sweated. He could feel a wallet under his sneakers.

He looked around for a while. There was no one.

“Ah… My shoelaces are loose.”

Kangmin, who was talking alone in a place where no one was present, crouched down. He grabbed the shoelace of his sneakers, and moved his foot to the side. There, he saw a fat wallet.

“Crazy.”

When he opened the wallet, it was full of bills.

These days people don’t carry much cash due to the widespread of credit cards, but it seemed that the owner was in dire need of cash.

“What should I do?”

This was a lot of money. At first glance, it looked like about 500,000 won.

He initially have some thoughts about this wallet, however, he was a good citizen. He do not want to robbed of others possessions.

“What the heck, even if I don’t have money, shouldn’t I atleast have pride?”

Kangmin put the wallet in his pocket. Anyway, was on his way to the police station. He decided to go and hand over the wallet to them.

“There are some cases where the lost wallet’s owners gave money to the person who found it.”

Kangmin walked down the street, hoping in his heart that the owner will give him some of his money. But soon Kangmin stopped again.

“What the heck, am I lucky or their owners are lucky?”

Kangmin crouched down again. This time it was a shiny ring under the sneakers.

It was covered with dirt, but it was really a gold ding that shined brightly under the sunlight.

Kangmin wiped the dirt off from the ring with his jeans. He stretched his hand to put the ring on his mouth and bit it.

“This is 24k. In terms of weight, this is money. Yesterday’s market price of gold is 260,000 won (~$260).”

Kangmin quickly put the ring in his pocket. This was different from the wallet.

It will be hard to find the owner of the ring even if he brought it to the police station, and there was no big problem even if he had it.

“Is God giving me a gift for doing a good job. Will next be a golden bracelet?”

Kangmin smiled, but at the same time, a strange idea appeared in his mind.

“The ring was small so it may not be noticed by people, but did they just pass by this wallet with a lot of bills?”

It doesn’t make sense. Even if a person was rich, they had no choice but to give in at the sight of money.

“What is this? Did something really happen here?”

Kangmin put the ring in his pocket and looked around. Then, he saw clothes scattered from place to place.

Kangmin walked down further. He went near the intersection.

As he walked down, he saw more torn clothes. Many wallets are also scattered along the road

Of course, Kangmin picked up all the wallets. However, he only picked wallet with a lot of cash.

Then he stopped walking. He saw something shiny under the sunlight.

“That’s diamond!”

It was different from gold. It may be some other metals in other eyes, but for some reason he felt that the light was unusual.

Looking around, there were still no people.

It would be strange that there were no people on the intersection, but Kangmin didn’t notice of this fact as his mind could only think about the diamond.

The diamond was on the stairs down leading to the train station by the road.

Kangmin approached carefully and reached out to grab the diamond. But as he got closer, he could see what was below the diamond.

White and thin. It was bone.

“Argh!”

Kangmin screamed and fell down on the spot.

“What? What?”

Only then did everything come into Kangmin’s eyes.

The diamond was a ring of this boned hand.

Surprised Kangmin crawled and stepped back.

“Crazy! What happened while I was sleeping? I don’t think I slept that long.”

Things that shouldn’t have happen, has now happened.

“Hidden camera? or movie shoot?”

That couldn’t have happened. Who would want to invest money for a hidden camera prank on him? In addition, the set was too wide to be considered a set for a movie shoot.

He stopped in front of a cellphone shop.

When he looked inside the store, phones were ruined, the glasses were all scattered in the floor and the cellphone parts were unrecognizable, in short, it was all messed up.

“If this wasn’t an hidden camera prank or a set for a movie shoot, was is War? Or did the world get ruined?’

Even after ramaging through his brain, he couldn’t think of anything as the possible answer.

It was then.

-Clink.

He heard a can rolling from behind.

Kangmin turned around right away.

“People?”

About 30 meters away, he could hear some noises.

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